This newsletter is a look back at the year, and a look forward to 2023. How original, right? But this year, Dragonfly.eco celebrated its 10th birthday. I came very close to reaching 1,000 books in our database. And, though the past two years or so have seen lots of world changes, some good and some terrible, and things have gotten me down, I know, as I always have, that we cannot give up fighting the good fight. No matter how powerless and invisible we sometimes feel. No matter the monsters waiting to pounce. Good stories continue to save my faith in humanity. They help us find the strength to carry on. It’s an age-old tradition. We tell stories. Dragonfly.eco continues to promote brave tales of those who light candles in the darkness: who speak up for our natural world, who celebrate it, who lament the loss of it, who explore our place in the ever-changing Earth and its wild places. These tales help to heal our losses but also motivate more action to fix what’s left.
Recommended book of the month
Speaking of amazing stories, Tor’s Africa Risen is a new anthology edited by Sheree Renée Thomas, Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki, and Zelda Knight. I am enjoying the book vastly. I usually skip reading introductions, but not this one. It reminds us that the continent of Africa is where humanity began, and those humans were the first to make sense out of the world and tell stories about it. We have a lot to learn from the first myths and from modern, refashioned myths and stories from the geographical place of our origins. The anthology is speculative in nature, with an ideal mix of science fiction, fantasy, and eco-stories from Afrofuturistic and Africanfuturistic perspectives.
What’s new?
December’s monthly world eco-fiction spotlight recaps the last decade of interviews at the site. Some fun facts:
I’ve done 134 interviews in the last decade, some with traditionally popular authors and some with indie authors. The interview series isn’t about sharks and minnows but several awesome fish in the sea who are all important to the literary ecosystem.
I began mapping where stories were set at the start of the World Eco-fiction: Climate Change and Beyond series, which began in 2016. This series has 54 interviews so far, and is growing.
The mapped countries include those from all continents, though pinpoints are approximate. The number of stories in each country is as follows: New Zealand (1), Australia (5), Japan (2), South Korea (1), China (2), Russia (1), Mongolia (1), Taiwan (1), Vietnam (1), Thailand (1), Philippines (1), Sri Lanka (1), Myanmar (1), India (3), Saudi Arabia (1), Uzbekistan/Kazakhstan border (1), South Africa (3), Botswana (1), Kenya (1), Nigeria (1), Ghana (1), Spain (2), Portugal (1), Malta (1), Greece (2), Italy (1), Switzerland (1), United Kingdom (2), Ireland (1), Norway (1), Greenland (1), Canada (6), US (9), Cuba (1), Jamaica (1), Dominican Republic (1), Haiti (1), Columbia (1), Brazil (3), Argentina (1), and Chile (1).
Other stories not in the world series include places like a speculative Scandinavian Union, fantasy worlds, and real or made-up worlds on Earth and on other planets.
The Stolen Child is published!
The Stolen Child, part of the Wild Mountain duology and sequel to Back to the Garden, is out in e-book format now and will be published in print in early 2023. Check out Climate Fiction Writers League’s Mark Ballabon’s interview with me about this book.
In The Stolen Child, we’ll find a world unrecognizable to those of us in living in the early to mid-21st century. Fran and Leo’s youngest child, Fae, goes missing after extreme wildfires force the family off their Idaho mountain. Fae’s story is told in short interludes, which contrast with the first person narratives written by the adults around her, as her life is upended and she ends up in Schull, Ireland, the home of the “last wolf in Ireland.” As her family sails through new waters in Canada, and then across the Atlantic, to find her, a romance grows between Fae’s older brother Alejandro and his best friend Kristy. Yet, the backdrop to the blossoming relationship is a journey to find the missing child, sinister and full of mystery, speculative about an even more drastically climate-changed time than the one we’re experiencing now and one in which false narratives and dangerous ideologies continue to flourish. If you missed the first book, Back to the Mountain, you can follow along with a reading guide (summary) at the end of The Stolen Child.
What’s in store at Dragonfly?
Okay folks, I’m not going to lie. I am feeling more and more behind in my hobby of providing the great resource that is Dragonfly.eco. While the site will continue indefinitely, look forward to these changes so that I can occasionally stop and breathe more often.
The Dragonfly Library of Excerpts ends before the new year. But do check out our latest addition by Brian Burt, who adds another excerpt from his republished Aquarius Rising trilogy. In place of the excerpts, if you want to contribute your writing somewhere and self-promote yourself with links and more about you, see the writing submissions at Rewilding Our Stories’ website. We have four contributions up so far.
I’m questioning whether or not to continue the Ecofiction subreddit. Though several people keep joining, I’m the only one posting for the most part, along with a couple others who occasionally pipe up. I have noticed increased awareness and news about ecologically oriented fiction since this group started, but the subreddit needs more participation in order for it to be truly viable.
The Rewilding Our Stories Discord has grown considerably since it began, but we also could use more voices. My goal was to make it a super hopping, active place, and if we do that and reach 1K users, we can be eligible for more perks, such as Discord’s Discovery and Partner Programs. I’m also putting feelers out for a new moderator to help me grow the place and be actively engaging. If you feel lost in the current social media downfalls, look toward a place like this community to find love, interesting stories, and even self-promotion for those who are active. We’re also planning to apply for 2023’s Flights of Foundry convention. We attended last year, and it was inspiring and a lot of fun!
The Indie Corner and Backyard Wildlife are phasing to occasional spotlights rather than monthly, due to my increasingly busy schedule. The Backyard Wildlife series is more active in the spring and summer.
The world spotlight series is a lot of fun, and I will continue it indefinitely, but in the future I will do more features that aren’t interviews. I plan to write some articles about authors instead. I’ve had fun with these in the past and have had a chance to explore eco-critical glimpses at popular novels whose authors are no longer alive or just so extremely busy I cannot reach them.
Dragonfly has had basically the same design since 2013. I’ve gone back and forth about redesigning it, and may take that project on in the new year. In the meantime, enjoy a slightly different look now with the refiltered aboriginal dragonfly art by Rashmisingh, licensed for use by Can Stock Photo. I’d like to hear from readers on a redesign. What works and what doesn’t? Due to the vast resources offered at the site, organization is always tough.
Resources
In case you’ve missed these exciting resources at Dragonfly, which are constantly being updated, check ‘em out!
Rewilding Our Stories: A Discord community, now expanded into a website, where you can find resources, reading, and writing fun in fiction that relates strongly to nature and environment. There’s a new submissions call-out for place writing!
New subreddit: Ecofiction. A place to find almost daily news about novels, articles, news, and films in the field of rewilded and ecological fiction.
World’s biggest playlist? Our environmental/nature song-of-the-week playlist goes back to 2015.
Book recommendations: a growing list of recs.
Eco/climate genres: They’re all over the place, and here’s an expanding compendium
Inspiring and informative author quotes from Dragonfly’s interviews
List of ecologically focused games
List of eco/climate films and documentaries
Eco-fiction links and resources
Book database: Database of over 900 book posts at Dragonfly.eco
Turning the Tide: The Youngest Generation: Fiction aimed toward children, teens, and young adults
Indie Corner: The occasional highlight of authors who publish independently
Backyard Wildlife: A hidden gem exploring how we are rewilding our own backyard and meadow
Artists & Climate Change. This is an extraordinary resource delving into all kinds of the arts focused on climate change. For a while now they’ve been rerunning my world eco-fiction spotlights. I’m a core writer for their team, and I’m both honored and grateful. Look for my “Wild Authors” series there. Note that this site is indefinitely paused at the moment, but the owner let me know that the content isn’t going away.
I’ve been helping with the social media at Climate Fiction Writers League. Check them out!
Copyright 2024 Mary Woodbury